Level 1 Implementation Support Specialist Certification

If you’ve taken one of the required courses, you have 2 routes you can take:

1) You can enroll in the other course when it’s offered to the general public (see timelines below), and then select Option 3 for the Level 1 certification at a later date:

StrategEase: The How of Creating Sustainable Change is open for enrollment year-round

Implementation, Spread, and Scale is open for enrollment every March.

OR

2) You can move forward with Option 4, which allows you to take either course if coupled with the Level 1 Assessments and Evaluation

If you have taken the previous version of either course, you do not need to retake the new version. You can opt to select Option 3 if you submitted the assignments for both courses when you originally took them.

Alternatively, you can select Option 2, which will provide you with short-term access to the courses if you want a refresher in order to assist you in completing the assessment components.

Option 3 (i.e., Level 1 Certificate Assessments and Evaluation) is only available if you are currently enrolled in OR have already completed both StrategEase: The HOW of Creating Sustainable Change (formerly Designing for Implementation) and Implementation, Spread, and Scale.

The time it takes to complete the Level 1 certification varies greatly as it can depend on multiple factors, such as participants' schedules, individual rates of comprehension and application, how much background work is being done for the assignments, the complexity of the follow-up questions, etc.

The following are estimates for each part of the process:

Courses + Assessment Component #1 (Course assignments)

• Both Level 1 courses contain 6 modules and are accessible for 1 year. There are no live components, so they can be completed on your own schedule and at your own pace.

• We anticipate the time commitment to be approximately 3 hours per module, which includes time for completing the assignments which are about directly relating the content back to your own work, so the amount of time will vary depending on how much background work you do.

Estimated total: 36 hours for both courses combined. 

Assessment Component #2 (Set of 10 questions) - Initial responses

• You will have 1 month from the date you receive these questions to submit your responses. We estimate this may take an average of 8-10 hours although some participants have noted it took them closer to 15 hours. A factor to consider is the time you may need to refer back to the courses as you complete the questions, if applicable. 

Estimated total: 10 hours.

First TCI Evaluation Period: 6 weeks

Once our evaluators have reviewed your course assignments and 10 questions, we will send the results back to you, noting which assignments and responses to revise.

Assessment Component #2 (Set of 10 questions) - Responses to follow-up questions

• You will have 2 weeks from the date you receive your results to submit your revisions.  The number of hours for this step will vary as it depends on your individual results. Some participants may have minimal assignment revisions and follow-up questions to respond to, while others may have more.

Estimated total: Not available.

Second TCI Evaluation Period: 6 weeks

Once our evaluators have reviewed your revised responses, you will then be notified that you have successfully completed the certification unless additional revisions are needed.

The Level 1 Implementation Support Specialist certification has been designed with the implementation support practitioner in mind. Each component of your submission is read in detail by an evaluator and assessed on various criteria like the use of appropriate language for the audience, practical support considerations, and the ability to support people to appropriately select and apply implementation science theories, models, frameworks, and approaches (TMFAs).

Course assignments from both Level 1 courses (Assessment Component #1) are evaluated to determine if your responses meet the quality level of a Certified Level 1 Implementation Support Specialist.

The set of 10 questions (Assessment Component #2) are evaluated to determine how course concepts would be applied and delivered in practical scenarios.

Each response to the 10 assessment questions (Assessment Component #2) is evaluated and will receive one of three grades along with evaluator feedback: 1 = Strong response; 2 = Adequate response; or 3 = Needs improvement.

If any of your course assignments don't meet the quality level or any of your assessment questions receive a grade of 3, you'll be asked to either revise and resubmit and/or answer a follow-up question. Please note it's common for participants to have more than one round of revisions/ follow-up questions.

Note: To help ensure fairness in the evaluation process all assignments that do not meet the quality level and all assessment questions that receive a grade of 3 are reviewed by a second evaluator.

All certificates are issued based on competence, not completion. This means you must receive a grade of 1 or 2 on all of the assessment questions and all course assignments must meet the quality level to earn your certificate and badge.

You are welcome to move through the course content as a team- however, all course assignments, as well as the final assessment process (and any requests for revisions), must be completed individually. This is so we can assess each person's specific knowledge and skills.

In terms of payment and fees, if there are at least 3 members in your team, you can receive a 20% group discount on both Level 1 courses. Team members can register individually or we can combine fees into one payment. Each team member would receive their own individual login to access the courses in either case.

To begin the process, we ask that each team member completes an application form, noting their organization when prompted.

Our course facilitators will respond regularly to your questions on our online discussion boards. This is where you can receive direct support.

Our courses and certificate program do not offer college credit or CEUs at this time, as they are topic agnostic (i.e., they are designed to be applicable across professions.)